The salary expectation gap in event sales and why employers must realign to stay competitive in 2026
As competition for commercial talent intensifies across the events sector, salary alignment is becoming a critical challenge for employers. Live Recruitment’s Sales Diversity Report highlights a growing gap between what event sales professionals currently earn and what they believe their skills and responsibilities are worth. This widening expectation gap has serious implications for talent attraction, retention, and organisational competitiveness especially as applicants become more informed and more selective about the roles they pursue. This is analysis is based on base salary figures only, generally sales roles come with commissions and earnings on top of their base salaries which can vary hugely and are often focused on performance.
How big is the gap between current and desired salaries in event sales?
Across the entire events sales’ workforce, professionals are earning less than they believe reflects their true value. While current salaries vary across subsectors, desired salaries in every area are consistently higher – often by several thousand pounds.
This isn’t unusual in a changing labour market, but the scale of the gap is notable. In some subsectors, expectation rises significantly faster than actual pay, signalling growing frustration among candidates. This misalignment is already influencing job-seeking behaviour, with sales professionals increasingly open to exploring new roles that better meet their expectations around salary, benefits, and progression.
Which areas show the largest gap and why does this matter?
The report data reveals variations across subsectors, but which have the largest gap?
- Tech suppliers: One of the largest differences between current and desired pay, highlighting rising expectations in a highly competitive, commercially demanding subsector.
- Venues: Lower average salaries mean that even small expectation gaps can quickly drive turnover, especially as cost-of-living pressures continue to rise.
- Conference & exhibition organisers: A consistent gap across all levels, signalling a need for clearer progression and pay transparency.
- Event/production agencies: A noticeable difference between current earnings and desired salaries, reflecting increased expectations as workloads intensify and skills diversify.
When desire for salary growth outpaces what employers are offering, the result is predictable: higher turnover, increased passive job-seeking, and more challenging recruitment conditions.
What is driving this rise in salary expectations?
There are several factors behind the widening gap:
- Increased commercial pressure on sales teams across all subsectors
- Greater transparency around salary data, giving professionals clearer benchmarks
- Cost-of-living increases driving expectations of fair compensation
- Expanded skill sets, particularly in tech-integrated sales environments
- Higher performance expectations, often without aligned pay progression
- Awareness of pay gaps, particularly gender-related, influencing expectations
Sales professionals are becoming more informed, more assertive, and more aware of their market value which means employers must adapt if they want to remain competitive.
How does the salary expectation gap impact hiring and retention?
A growing misalignment between what employees earn and what they believe they should earn is already shaping workforce behaviour:
- Increased job movement as professionals seek out financial growth
- Higher salary negotiation rates, particularly among mid-career professionals
- Greater interview dropouts when compensation doesn’t match expectations
- Reduced retention in lower-paying subsectors
- Lower morale where progression and pay structures lack clarity
This isn’t only a candidate issue; it’s a commercial risk. Employers who fail to keep pace with industry expectations may experience longer hiring timelines, a smaller pool of qualified applicants, and weaker long-term team stability.
What can employers do to realign and remain competitive?
Employers can take proactive steps to reduce the gap and strengthen their market position:
- Review salaries annually against sector-specific benchmarks
- Ensure internal pay structures are transparent and equitable
- Build clearer progression pathways linked to measurable outcomes
- Evaluate workloads to ensure compensation aligns with expectations
- Factor in cost-of-living pressures to remain competitive
- Partner with Live Recruitment for data-backed salary insights and targeted support when hiring event talent
A strategic approach to pay alignment supports both commercial performance and workforce wellbeing.
Conclusion
The 2025 Live Recruitment Event Sales Diversity Report highlights a clear and growing expectation gap between what sales professionals earn and what they believe their contributions are worth. This gap presents across every subsector and is already shaping job-seeking behaviour, turnover rates, and salary negotiations. Employers that prioritise transparency, benchmarking, and structured progression will be best placed to attract and retain the talent they need in an increasingly competitive market.
Live Recruitment provides clients with real-time salary insights and recruitment support to help align compensation with market expectations. For employers recruiting for event sales jobs, this can support stronger candidate attraction, improved retention and better long-term commercial performance.
The full 2025 Event Sales Diversity Report, which includes detailed analysis across each subsector, can be downloaded here: https://www.live-recruitment.co.uk/diversity-report-2025-event-sales-sector